Country Retreat - 35. Reveal

“You should have left it for us to do, once all of these storms have passed, but thank you for your efforts. How many cottages have you seen with damaged windows?” the ranger replied. “All of the lower street cottages, have lost most of their windows, and only a couple on the upper street, and none at all in our cottage,” Marcus responded. “Looks like we need to install storm shutters on all windows in the future,” the ranger said to us.

“Yes, we agree, it was mentioned as we were cleaning up. We will be fine staying put for a few days, as we have plenty of extra food, that we bought as soon as we heard about the storm. How is the rest of the island holding up regarding damage,?” I asked.

“Very similar situation all over the three accommodation locations and staff accommodation too, plus the nearby café and general store have been badly damaged too. I think the Island Board is seriously considering shutting down the island until the cleanup is completed, and some of the repairs have been done,” the ranger said before he set off to continue his tour of the area.

We were some of the last to leave the island, three days after the major storm hit the island, and once we had helped to clean up around our area, including around the nearby café and supermarket which had partially lost it roof. we spent some time down at the beach, where we found a lot of shells and plenty of seaweed washed up on the beach.

“Excuse me, are you the group that remained in your accommodation throughout the storm at Rottnest?” a woman asked us, as she poked a microphone in front of us unexpectedly. Jarrad laughed. “You got to be kidding me, we were staff, and we have returned to the mainland until guests are permitted to return to the island once repairs have been completed, as it is a real mess over there,” Jarrad said before walking away, and we all followed him, stunned at what had just happened.

Once we had climbed into a minibus taxi with the door closed, “Bloody reporters, I hate their guts,” Jarrad complained, “Yeah, but you definitely pranked them real good with your response,” Rebecca replied and we all laughed at this, “Yeah serves them right to, nosey bastards,” Jarrad added.

For the remainder of our holidays, we met every two or three days to go hiking in the National Park or Kayaking on the Swan River. “When are you going to tell the others about the secret location?” Jarrad asked me when we were alone for a short time, and well away from the hearing range of the others. “Very soon, I was thinking of a big reveal to them on our last weekend together, before Giles and I have to fly back over east,” I replied.

“What are you two scheming about now?” Rebecca asked as she approached, and Jarrad chuckled, “Always hard to keep secrets away from you my friend,” Jarrad replied, “As I was saying to Jarrad, I think we should go on one last camping trip before Giles and I return to University over east,” I said to Rebecca and the others, who had rejoined us to find out what is happening.

“Sounds good, when and where?” Giles asked, “How about this weekend, starting on Friday evening, and the location is a surprise. Just bring clothes for hiking, swimming and kayaking,” I replied, “Not even a little hint on where it is?” Marcus asked, “Nope, no clues at all, just wait and see. Pickup is at Jarrad’s place since most of you live in that area, and departure time will be 6 pm at the latest,” I replied.

With only three days before that camping trip, I arranged for Jarrad to come up to Yanchep the following morning, and to bring an overnight bag, as we had to do some housekeeping at the compound, with two accommodation pods to be readied for them, as well as a general cleanup of the compound, which gets quite dusty, when there is no one there for periods, especially after the storm that we had recently, which caused no damage at all to the compound.

When we arrived mid-morning the next day, we got to work right away, firstly giving the master pod a bit of a cleanup, since that is where Jarrad and I are staying as we usually do, followed by the dining and kitchen and lastly the administration centre. We stopped work for a short lunch break and later in the afternoon, so we could go down to the beach for a bit of a beach walk and swim in the ocean.

“No emus here,” I commented, as we walked back to the pedestrian gate into the property, which made Jarrad jump in fright and quickly look around, which made me chuckle. “I bloody well hope not,” Jarrad grumbled, as he walked quicker towards the gate. Back at the compound we relaxed and watched the setting sun from the front patio area just outside the front door of the compound, and as always it was an awesome thing to watch, with all the changing colours, as the sun sank towards the horizon.

The following day, with just one day remaining until the rest of the group arrived, we quickly finished off the last of the cleaning, before packing up and heading back towards the city, where Jarrad headed home, and I started to compile a shopping list for the three-night stay at the compound with all of my friends. The following day, Jarrad arrived at my home in Yanchep just after lunch. “Hey buddy, are you all ready for this weekend?” he asked as he approached. “Yes, although I am a little nervous about revealing the family compound to them,” I replied.

“Well, I guess we can sort of surprise them, if we are leaving so late in the afternoon, as they won’t know exactly where the compound is located, and in the morning, they will be in for a big surprise,” Jarrad said and we chuckled about this. “Are you still ok, that we all travel in two vehicles, we can have all the luggage in your vehicle, and carry everyone else in my vehicle,” I asked Jarrad.

“Sounds like a good plan, considering only us two know where we are going,” Jarrad replied smiling. After a walk down the beach, and loading up the two kayaks to take back to the property, we headed to Upper Swan ready to pick up the others, stopping off at the shops to collect some ice for the cooler box, and a few snacks for the short trip up the coast.

“Hey guys, ready for an adventure?” I asked the others, once they had all arrived. “Looking forward to this mystery tour. I guess you are still not going to tell us where we are going?” Rebecca replied, “No chance, only that it is a beach location for swimming, walking and kayaking, and that you will enjoy it,” Jarrad answered before I could reply, as we loaded all the luggage into Jarrad’s vehicle, before climbing into my old vehicle, which my Grandparent’s had decided to keep for when I need it here in WA.

A little before sunset, we headed off north from Upper Swan, deciding to take the inner highway route via Granville, and then head west from there. It would take a little longer, but it would also help to disguise our true destination, and with the help of no moon tonight, the dark sky would assist us as well.

We stopped at Granville to have some dinner at one of the few cafes located in the small country town, just to delay our arrival just a little bit more, and it was a twenty-minute drive west from there before we reached the Indian Ocean Drive and turned north, with just a fifteen-minute drive until we reach the property.

During dinner, Jarrad and I had a quiet chat on our own away from the rest. “All seems to be going to plan, and a great idea to go this way just to confuse them some more,” Jarrad said to me, which had me chuckling, “Yeah, by morning, they will see where exactly we are, and that is when the fun will begin. Let’s drive into the garage compound, so we can hide some of what is inside the main compound, until morning, when we have the grand tour, ” I replied.

It was closer to 8 pm by the time we drove down the driveway, and I pressed the gate remote, without anyone noticing as I drove straight through and continued while Jarrad waited for the gate to close and lock behind him before following. Once again pressing the remote to unlock and automatically open the gate to the compound, I drove through the short tunnel and stopped near the pedestrian tunnel.

Once everyone had climbed out and Jarrad had arrived, “Welcome to my family’s Country retreat, located close to the beach, yet well hidden away from any prying eyes,” I announced. “What is this place, it is huge. Looks like a war bunker or something like that?” Giles commented. “Well, it is technically a semi-underground compound, that consists of two areas. This is the garage and workshop compound, and through that tunnel there, is the living and recreation compound,” I replied as I pointed the direction.

“Follow me, to start your new adventure,” Jarrad said, having already gathered his luggage, and headed for the tunnel. “What! You already knew about this place?” Rebecca asked in a surprised high-pitched voice, “Yep, been here about half a dozen times actually, oh and our overseas friends have been here once too,” Jarrad responded as he disappeared into the tunnel, with the others following.

Going over to the quad bike storage shed, I opened the door, and started it up, before driving towards my vehicle, where I loaded up the cooler, boxes of groceries and my luggage, before following the others. “Hey, where did that come from?” Marcus asked when he saw me arrive, as they gathered between the community shopping store and the dining hall.

“This place is incredible, and it must have cost a fortune,” Rebecca commented, “Yes it did, I recently learnt that it cost my Grandparents $12 ½ in total,” I replied casually, “Well 12 ½ hundred thousand doesn’t seem like much, it must be fairly basic inside,” Marcus said, “Not hundred thousand, it cost 12 ½ million to build this, and apart from you guys, only Koen and Hugh, my Grandparents and the builders know about this unofficial place, not even the local council knows about it,” I responded.